New Guy Here (bait)

Hello fellow WSO community!

I'm currently an undergrad majoring in majoring in finance and minoring in economics.

I'm on this forum to educate myself a little further in the world of finance, more specifically investment banking (go figure) and private equity (double plus go figure). I've read enough to know that I'm like the crippled highschool kid who has the potential to play ball yet the masses think I won't be able to because of some hereditary dysfunction, that I am trying to overcome (which is akin to me having around a 3.0 gpa at the moment from a non-target school, and no solid work experience within the realm IB/PE). I'd like to use this opportunity to post on this forum to gain as much knowledge and understanding about my prospective career, and as well as gain valuable advice from the pros that post on here.

A little bit about me:

- played piano for 11 years, graduated the Royal Music Conservatory with Honors
- I'm quite the conversationalist, meaning I took up drama as a hobby in highschool and ended up being pretty good at it
- I played hockey for 8 years, and have been playing various sports in my past time ever since
- I like to drink good craft German beer, enjoy rye and ging, as well as a good gin and tonic when the summer gets hot
- oh, and I'm a pretty damn good salesman, which is why I want to eventually get involved with transactions/pe (you know, the whole keeping-relationship-part of that job.

I've been undergoing a huge stream of change over the course of the past two years and I can easily say that I am not the same person that I was two years ago. Yes, I did fuck up my grades for the first two years of University. Yes, I have not been heavily involved with the groups at my school, but that's all about to change because I, as a person, have tremendously changed - even in the past two years. I hope that I will be given the benefit of the doubt and be treated like any other 4.0-Wharton-Varsity-Club-Super-Leader-Aryan-Whizkid-Wallstreet-Guru-Kid (totally kidding) that ends up posting on here; as well, I hope to receive honest, constructive criticism that will enable me to work towards what I see being a fruitful career path in the future.

That's just about it.

TLDR; naive noob with average grades has above average ambitions and "wants to make it in this world, yo."

So for my first question: I'm leaving the country this Monday and I'll be returning on the 31st. I was thinking I should start learning how to model properly. Are the models that are presented on (m a c a b a c u s . c o m) any good? Meaning, are they worthwhile for me to learn while I'm still completing my undergrad? My goal, by the end of these two years, is by the time I get recruited I'll have a sharper skill set than the regular 4.0 whizkid graduating from UofT or Schulich (both top schools in Canada).

For my second question: in your opinion, given what I have just written, what should be the top five priorities I should complete in order for me to get closer to my goal?

Thank you to anyone and everyone who has taken the time to read my insanely redundant post here on WSO. I really hope this post can kick me off in the right direction and get me started towards my career goal!

Cheers!

 

Welcome. I would start by doing a search of the forums. There are LOTS of stories like yours. Read a little and then post some more narrow focused questions. Good Luck!

"Everybody needs money. That's why they call it money." - Mickey Bergman - Heist (2001)
 

Top 5 priorities? Let's see...

  1. Get A's for the rest of your college career 2a. Get an internship in investment banking. The summer between your junior and senior year is the most important. 2b. If you can't get this, get a Private Wealth Management internship.
  2. Learn Excel/Modelling inside and out.
  3. Study your technical interview questions.
  4. Network.

This should get you well on your way. Of course this is a very rough guide. I recommend reading through some of the top stories on this forum for an idea of what you're dealing with.

I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards, and broken things
 

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